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When you think of the future, what do you imagine itll be?
Not much happens inCmon Cmon.
Theres no overly grand gestures of love.
Theres no arch monologues.
Theres no teary reappraisals underscored by irrevocable shifts in the characters lives.
Its a career best for him lovely, empathetic, humane.
Black-and-white cinematography can have multiple effects.
It can place audiences in another time.
It can render a story like a fable.
Johnny is a reflection while Viv is in the flesh; family struggles are a hall of mirrors.
Conversations bleed from one scene to another.
(As Johnny says to Jesse, recording allows us to make a mundane thing immortal.)
On Venice Beach, ocean waves and wheels hitting pavement fill his ears.
In New York City, the rumble of the train and the slick movements of skateboarders grab his attention.
I am extremely partial to the New Orleans segment of the film that closes Johnny and Jesses peripatetic journey.
Its a moment among many that cues us to the chasm Johnny and Viv are trying to bridge.
Jesse is precocious, needy to the point of annoying, a dynamic Norman expertly brings out.
(I mostly hang out with adults, Jesse tells Johnny.)
If there is one critique Ill level at Millss film, its how Jesses father is handled.
Im currently diagnosed as bipolar bang out II.
McNairys performance cant help but tilt dangerously close to spectacle without the interiority to flesh it out.
But Millss story is not about Paul.
Along with the passion and pleasure, it is the secret knowledge they share.
Why on earth should it fall to them to paint things bright and innocent and safe?
But even then, the film is undeniably Phoenixs.
In 2012s tricky masterpieceThe Masterand 2017s violentYou Were Never Really Here, he plays brutal and broken.
In others, like 2013sHer,he gives his character an undeniable yearning.
His physicality has been both guarded and wild.
It is the polar opposite of his performance inCmon Cmon.Here, Phoenix is mellow.
He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end.
As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity.
This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly justbe.
With all its softness and sweetness, the story never tips into being saccharine.
